18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Chapter 254

Jasper, who wanted to take his time and do a meticulous job, had no choice but to passively accept. "Alright, we'll cover the meals. We'll pay you a salary in provisions when the time comes. "Let's not spoil them," Austin warned, "They are under contract after all."

He called them over for a break and asked excitedly, "How do you plan to renovate the place?"

Stella shared her plans of reinforcing the outer walls, building a greenhouse on the rooftop and in the backyard to grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks.

Austin nearly dropped his cigarette in surprise, "Everyone else is putting in swimming pools and you're planning a farm?"

"We've spent everything on this house, and we can't afford any extra luxuries," Stella said bluntly, "I can live without swimming, but I can't live without food."

Austin laughed heartily, "You've got the right idea. Growing your own food is way more practical. Once you're done, I'll take a leaf out of your book."

They were both savvy people, especially Stella. She was not one to be taken advantage of. Despite the struggles of the past three years, she was doing better than ever. So, following her lead was a no-brainer.

However, Austin was a bit hesitant about the idea of installing broken glass on top of the high walls, "Why bother? It's not enough security. I could get you some electric fencing instead."

Stella wasn't against simplifying things, but an electric fence around the entire property would require a lot of materials. After three years, those were not easy to come by.

But when it came to finding supplies, there were very few things Austin couldn't handle.

Stella smiled, "I'll leave it to you then, Austin."

Too high and it risked collapsing, too low and it wouldn't offer sufficient protection. They calculated the correct height and asked Austin for help, planning to barter the materials with food. Austin readily agreed, "Just let me know what else you need and I'll sort it

of what they needed, except for assembling

Austin assured, "Rob knows his stuff. He can help

crew was still hard at work, Stella decided to start cooking, "I'll whip up something for dinner. Don't expect

forward to it. He rolled up his sleeves and

dried beans with bacon, dried radishes with pork belly, dried cabbage salad, and a large

own bowls and forks. They were blunt peasants with no sense of etiquette. They would scoop up a good amount of rice, grab a bunch of vegetables, and crouch down on the ground to eat. "Mmm, the food you made

The food cooked by Stella was wondrously aromatic. In comparison, his wife's cooking, on the

the same situation. Austin did not lack food, but he could not cook. Most of the time, his crew cooked for him. Compared to

you've struck gold with Stella," Austin

agreed, "Indeed, I must've done something

hard work done for the day, the crew packed up and headed to Austin's house to

again in a few hours. Their efficiency astounded Stella and Jasper, and they had to scramble to keep up with

the three-meter-high walls were up and

layers due to the thinness of the walls: a layer of cement mortar, a layer of mixed mortar, and a layer of white

middleman. He wasn't living in luxury, but compared to most survivors, he was doing

gesturing at Austin,

back of

dare! Boss, take a break and have

tool, "Everyone needs to commit fully. If I catch anyone slacking off, there'll be

time to participate. This group was working so fast that the two were constantly bringing in materials from outside. "Where did you get all these?" Even Austin was envious, "Can you help us source some so we can finish renovating the villa area? We'll split the profits." Stella